1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to a hologram print system for printing a holographic stereogram based on image information and to a holographic stereogram printed out from this hologram print system.
2. Prior Art
To create a holographic stereogram, for example, a subject is photographed from different observation points to generate many images as original pictures. These images are sequentially recorded as strip or dot element holograms on a single holographic recording medium.
For example, FIG. 1 illustrates how to create a holographic stereogram having parallax information in a cross direction only. First, a subject 100 is sequentially photographed crosswise from different observation points to generate a parallax image sequence 101 comprising a plurality of images having the crosswise parallax information. Each image 102 constituting the parallax image sequence 101 is sequentially recorded as a strip element hologram on a holographic recording medium 103 so that the images continue crosswise. This provides a holographic stereogram having the crosswise parallax information.
In this holographic stereogram, information about a plurality of images 102 is obtained by sequentially photographing from different observation points along a cross direction and is sequentially recorded crosswise as element holograms in strips. When an observer views this holographic stereogram with both eyes, right and left eyes accept slightly different 2-D images respectively. This causes the observer to feel parallax, reproducing a 3-D image.
Moreover, there have been reported many techniques for displaying 3-D images using holographic stereogram. There has been also reported a printer system and the like for creating holographic stereogram (A. Shirakura; N. Kihara; S. Baba: xe2x80x9cInstant holographic portrait printing systemxe2x80x9d, Proc. SPIE Vol. 3293, p. 246-253, Practical Holography XII).
As an application of such a holographic stereogram printing system, it may be preferable to place only photographic systems at various locations. In this case, the photographic system transfers just data to a centrally installed printer for printout.
Whether the photographic apparatus and the printer are available at the same location or different locations, a critical factor in operations is exact correspondence between photographed image data and a printout hologram.
For example, there can be a service for photographing image data at a remote location and mailing a corresponding hologram later on. In this case, it is necessary to send not only customer""s image data, but also customer information such as delivery destination. Further, it is desirable to determine correspondence between a printout hologram and a customer.
In many cases, a transparent film is used as a recording material for the hologram printer, making it impossible to place additional information on the rear of the material. As an alternative, it is possible to record information using optical means or ink on a portion which is void of a hologram film image. However, an appropriate function needs to be added to the hologram print system, resulting in an ineffective solution.
The present invention has been made in consideration of the foregoing. It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a hologram print system for easily managing printout holograms and a holographic stereogram created by this hologram print system.
For solving the above-mentioned problems, a hologram print system according to the present invention for printing a holographic stereogram based on image information comprises information file provision means for providing an image information file to be holographed and a management information file storing management information about the image information file; image processing means for generating a composite image file by overlaying management information according to the management information file on part of a hologram according to the image information file provided from the information file provision means; and printout means for printing a holographic stereogram according to a composite image file generated from the image processing means.
In this hologram print system, the image processing means generates a composite image file by overlaying management information according to the management information file on the image information file in such a manner as to display the management information only within a specified range from a periphery of a vision for the holographic stereogram.
The above-mentioned hologram print system records information in the periphery of the angle of field in a hologram. Namely, the content of a management information file cannot be recognized in most parts of the hologram vision. Image processing is used for compositing the content of an image information file and the content of the management information file so that the content of the management information file is visible in the hologram only when viewed from the extreme periphery.
For solving the above-mentioned problems, a holographic stereogram according to the present invention is printed in a hologram print system based on image information and is characterized by displaying management information about a hologram-oriented image information file stored in a management information file by overlaying on part of a hologram generated according to the image information file.
This holographic stereogram also displays the above-mentioned management information only within a specified range from the periphery of the vision.
The present invention composites an image information file and an associated management information file. This can provide a holographic stereogram which makes the content of the management information file visible only when viewed from an edge of the angle of field. Accordingly, it is possible to easily manage a printout holographic stereogram.